| Telling Our Story: Pioneering a Youth Media Model |
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| Written by Azeem Hill & Fred Pinguel | |||
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Media creation is important to our work because organizing is really just about telling stories. We need to tell our story, which won’t be heard unless we put it out there, and to tell it convincingly so people are moved to think and act. That’s why PSU members have come together to produce our own video pieces. The Video Squad (V-Squad) meet weekly to discuss and work on ongoing projects which range from a promotional documentary for PSU to covering our events and actions throughout the city Currently, V-Squad is working on a documentary about the Philadelphia Student Union. The finished documentary will show what the experience of a Philadelphia public high school student is like, and the role PSU has played in members’ lives. Our goal for this video is to show the public exactly what PSU does. We do a lot of different things at PSU to be effective in our work, and we want to make sure all of it is in the video. One of the most exciting recent developments for PSU has been the opportunity to serve as a model for other youth organizations, in terms of how we utilize media. In the past few months, we have been asked by several organizations to share our model for using media as an organizing tool. Recently, we hosted young people from the Abbott Leadership Institute Youth Media Symposium for an exchange about how we use media in our organizing work. It was a chance for us to learn abut their work and share some of the specifics of how we use media programs for leadership development of our members. We are continuing to build our video program and use it to build the effectiveness of our organization and the strength of our student leaders • By Fred Pinguel *********************
Our radio show, On Blast, is an important part of how we, students, participate in Philadelphia Student Union. It is the only radio show in Philadelphia that’s produced entirely by young people. That means that students produce and edit all of the pieces on our radio show as well as host. In the process of creating the radio show each month, we have learned how to record and edit a radio story in an engaging way that sounds professional. We have also learned critical thinking and research skills in the course of reseaching our topics and preparing for interviews. Our show is a space for students to really learn amazing communication skills that we will take with us for the rest of our lives. On Blast is also one of the only radio shows in this city that is produced by organizers. We produce an hour long show each month and we have used each show as a way to further our organizing work. Some of the topics that we’ve covered recently include an interview with former School Reform Commissioner Heidi Ramirez in which we got the chance to ask her about teacher quality; a discussion of how people learn best; the story of how a community organized to keep William Penn High School open; and a feature about the history of multiracial poor peoples’ organizing in Philadelphia. We also regularly cover what is happening inside our specific schools and our district as a whole. Our show currently airs every Wednesday nights from 6-7pm on 88.1FM WPEB in West Philadelphia. You can also listen to our show online and even download our podcast at www.onblast.podomatic.com. • By Azeem Hill
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